Corona Question

[rasherb]

I've been using a corona-style mill for the last few batches. I've been getting great efficiency, so I pretty happy with my purchase. One thing has been bothering me though. I've been getting this grainy, husky flavor in my beers that I think might be what JP talks about in How-to-Brew.

These flavors are akin to the astringent flavors produced from the grain husks. These flavors are more evident in all-grain beers due to poor grain crushing or sparging practices. If the grain husks are shredded during crushing by the use of a Corona grain mill for instance, these husk flavors are more likely to be extracted during the sparge. Follow the same procedures recommended to prevent astringency to correct the problem.

Grainy flavors can also be contributed by highly toasted malts. If you are making your own toasted malts, allow them to age at least two weeks after crushing so the harsher aromatic compounds can dissipate. Cold conditioning the beer for a month or two will often cause these harsh compounds to settle out with the yeast.

I've been grinding the heck out of my grain with the corona--good efficiency, no stuck sparges so far--but I think this has given me this off-flavor.

It's kinda grainy and mellow with a chalky aftertaste similar to astringency.

HTB says it'll take one to two months to drop out of the beer. I'm about to make an IPA and a Hefe; both good fresh.

Should I relax my crush and up the grain bill to account for the loss of efficiency?

Or

Should I relax my worries and just let the IPA and Hefe age 1 to 2 months?

Yeah I know...Barley Crusher....Maybe after the xmas bills are paid off.

 

[WBC]

What does the wort taste like before the ferment? I would think the astringency would be present. You could use a coffee cup or better yet a thermos and make a small test mash and see if you taste it.

 

[boo boo]

I've been using my Porkert, which is a corona knockoff, about 3 years now and have made some great brews with it. My goal isn't for 80's efficiency, but, rather for about 75%. With this efficiency, I find no detectable off flavours from torn/shredded husks in my finished brews.

 

[rasherb]

It has the taste before and after fermentation. The first runnings have less of the taste than the sparge(s). It probably will age out, so could be considered a "green" flavor.

I'm doing an IPA this weekend. I'm thinking about relaxing my crush (worse efficiency) and just upping the grain bill by a couple pounds and doing a no-sparge.

boo boo, would you say you have a lot of flour in your crush? I adjusted until there were no more uncracked grains. I get lots of flour and torn husks, but no uncracked grains. If I relax the grind I'll probably get untouched grains but less torn/shredded husks.

Thanks!

 

[niquejim]

It has taken a year for me to dial in my corona style mill, but I consistently get 83% with no off flavors.
Make small adjustments each time and check your water profile to make sure the mash ph is not off

 

[rasherb]

Thanks,

I think I'll play with adjusting and doing micro mashes over the holiday
to see if I can get rid of the off flavor.

 

[beergears]

How to retain the fine adjustment between (take-apart) cleanings...??

 

[giligson]

forget the "set screw" on the corona - adjust with offset washers:

http://www.unitedsound.us/Brewby/web/042207-008.jpg

also some people say if you use a drill a high speed may be more prone to cause husk tearing.

Never had a problem with my washer adjusted corona.

 

[rasherb]

I ended up relaxing my crush and throwing a couple extra pounds of 2 row in the mash. Still got 78% efficiency and very little of the husky off flavor.